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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1913)
TIIE BIORXIXG OREGOXIAX, SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1913. (Ufa &m$cmnvi PORTI.AXD. OBECON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Poatofflce aa Kecond-class matter. Subjcription Ratea Invariably In Advance. (BY MAIL.) TMf1v Rnnittv fnrturteri Onm vear. . . . .$8-00 Dally. Sunday Included, alx month.... -25 Dally, Sunday included, three montna. .. Daily, Sunday included, one month..... -"5 Dally, without Sunday, one year -0 Dally, without Sunday, six montha -23 Daily, without Sunday three montha.... i-K Dally, without Sunday, one month OT Weeklv. on. vi- 1.W Sundav. on .......... 2.50 Sund&v and Weelrlv one vear ...... 8.50 ' (BY CARRIER.) Dally. Sunday Included, one year "-00 Dallv. Knnriitv included, one month.... ' How to Remit Send PoMofllee money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency aro at the sender's risk. Give postoftice address in lull, including county and state. Postage Kates 10 to 14 pages. 1 cent; 16 to 28 pages, 2 cents; 30 to -40 pages, S cents, 40 to 0 pages, 4 cents. Foreign postage, double rate. Caatern Business Offices Verree ac Conk- lln New York, Brunswick building. -m- cajco, Stcger building. San Francisco Office R. J. Bldwell Co., 742 Market atreet. European Office No. 8, Regent atret, 8. W., London. PORTXAXD. SATURDAY, JAN. 11. 1913. IRRIGATION NEEDS. Several months ago John H. Lewis, State Engineer of Oregon, made the statement that he knew of five lrriga- - tlon projects in Oregon that had been investigated and abandoned where more than one million acres of land could be reclaimed at a cost of $25 to 140 per acre. This Is the equivalent of 60,000 farms of twenty acres each, and enough land. If put under inten sive cultivation, to support one-third the present population of Oregon. These figures give but a partial idea of the importance of the problems the Oregon Irrigation Congress has met to discuss in Portland. It should be re called, also, that this area lies in a semi-arid condition when for more than a decade we have had laws pur porting to extend Government or state assistance, supervision or encourage ment to reclamation projects. These three enactments are the United States reclamation act, the Carey act as ac cepted and adopted by Oregon, and a state Irrigation district law. Idleness of large areas capable of irrigation is not the only evidence of the Inadequacy of the laws or of their administration. In the census period covered by the 1910 enumeration the Increase in irrigated lands in Oregon was 300,000 acres. Yet the census re ports show that only one-seventh of this increase in the ten-year period was brought about by the operation of the three acts mentioned. The entire remainder was the result of commer cial or co-operative individual enter , prise. In view of what has been done and what can be done, the law's aid is almost negligible. The failure of the Government Rec- lamatlon Bureau to do more for Ore gon has not been due to lack of feasi ble projects, but to diversion to other states of funds that should have been expended in Oregon. While the recla mation act originally provided that the major portion of public land sale revenues should be expended within the borders of the state which pro duced them, the Secretary of the In terior was permitted to borrow from the funds of one state to reclaim lands in another state, with the proviso that the sums so 'diverted should be re turned to the state of their origin with each ten-year period. Oregon's allot ment was borrowed in large part, but when the ten-year period was about to expire Congress repealed the section requiring its return. In Oregon the Carey act seems to have been more successful in tying up lands than In developing them. This act permits the segregation of Government lands upon application by the state after the state has entered Into a contract with some private firm or corporation for the putting of water on the land. The irrigation company makes its profit solely from the sale of water rights. In Oregon the setttlers have not been charged for the lands. The law, and its administration, in the past have been an invitation to the speculator and promoter. Lands have been withdrawn in behalf of in dividuals, firms and corporations which have not had complete engi neering data, 'adequate financial re sources or comprehensive knowledge of the work they were undertaking. Speculators have engaged in Carey-act projects, relying on the sale of water rights to supply funds to complete the Irrigation works. Settlers have paid In part for water rights, relying on crops to provide additional payments. With water not forthcoming there are no crops. When there are no crops the settler cannot pay up on his water rights. When water-right payments are not continued the company cannot supply the water. The situation Is deadlocked. But the Carey-act failures in Ore gon are in several classes. In one class nothing whatever has been done and the land lies idle, while the pro moters hang on with some faint hope that in time they may let go at a profit; In another class Is the project in which lands have been sold and the money diverted to the personal use of the promoters; in another class is the blockade with works partly com pleted and no water. The Carey-act plan recognizes but another type of the middleman. The water company stands between the settler and the Government. He takes his toll, and in order to get financial backing other than that ac quired through sales of water rights he must make his profit large. It is said that 100 per cent Is not now suf ficient to attract capital to such en terprises, while If more than 100 per cent profit Is permitted, the cost to the settler becomes prohibitive. The solution of the problems is not wholly connected with the future. While grave need exists for some en actment that will develop Oregon's afid lands, uncompleted projects be gun under the inadequate laws and imperfect administration of the past challenge consideration by the state. The obligation to the unfortunate set tlers who have invested therein Is not direct, but it plainly exists. Their re lief should not be overlooked in at tempting to devise plans to reclaim the vast areas that have as yet not felt the blight of speculation or reckless exploitation. The large degree of success attend ing the enforcement of the pure food law has prompted extension of its principle, which is that articles shall be sold as what they really are and that Imitations and adulterations shall not be palmed off as the genuine or pure article. Louisiana has followed up the National pure food- law by passing & pure shoe law, and Repre sentative Oldfield has Introduced a Federal bill of the same purport In Congress. The Louisiana law forbids the sale of shoes made wholly or in part of substitutes for leather unless the fact is plainly stamped on the soles, and it imposes a penalty for vio lation. The Oldfield bill extends the same provisions to shoes sold In inter state or foreign commerce or in the territories and islands. The bill is in the interest of honest dealing and its passage and enforcement would hurt only the dishonest It would leave a man free to buy paper-soled shoes, but he would know that they were paper and 'Would not pay for them the value of leather under the delusion that they were leather. HOW MUCH FOR 1913 FAIR? A Portland man in San Francisco writes to inform The Oregonian that the report has been industriously cir culated there that this paper Is op posed to an adequate appropriation for an Oregon exhibit at the 1915 ex position. Of course the San Francisco notion of an adequate appropriation by Oregon and the Oregon idea may not be in accord; yet The Oregonian desires to assure all whom it may con cern that It wishes Oregon generously and even brilliantly represented at San Francisco in 1915. It has said as much heretofore; It repeats now that the Legislature should make a suita ble and liberal appropriation. The people of Oregon think 1500, 000 too much, and The Oregonian is In harmony with that view. But whatever The Oregonian may think, it is clear from interviews and other wise that the Legislature will not give $500,000. The general consensus is for $200,000- to $250,000. We think $250,000an adequate appropriation. We happen to know that the 1915 fair officials think so, too. Let us remind our agitated San Francisco critics that the referendum in Oregon makes a $500,000 appropri ation impossible. If a half-million-dollar bill were to pass the Legisla ture, it would certainly be held up un der the referendum and the effect would be the same as no appropria tion. Why invite defeat of any exhibit by imprudent and extravagant legis lation ? California gave $90,000 for its ex hibit at the Lewis and Clark Expo sition in 1905. The sum of $250,000 for an Oregon display at San Fran cisco in 1915 is doing very well. CRY OF THE STANDPATTER. There Is no more reason for limiting the number of bills on the ballot than for limit ing the number of bills to be introduced in the Legislature. One la just as much an abuse as the other and vice versa. Thus saith a reactionary champion of the unamended and wide-open ini tiative and referendum. The Oregon system that was good enough for our fathers, a decade and more ago, is good enough for us. Let well enough alone. Don't touch the initiative ark of the covenant. Don't excite the sa cred referendum ox. Hands off. Let us stand pat. So runs the argument. Your radical of ten years ago has run half around the circle and be come the mossback of today. He fan cies that the people will respond to the old demand to blame everything on the Legislature. He makes state ments about legislative abuses as com pared with initiative abuses that are absurd. One-tenth the bills introduced in a Legislature reach final passage.' The sifting process rejects nine-tenths of them. - The " legislative -hopper eats them up. The Legislature! through its committees digests them. The work is divided. A dozen measures on a sin gle subject 'emerge as one bill. There s . opportunity to reject the bad, or useless, or vicious in the earliest stages. The fittest only survive, in theory; and in practice the fittest are well represented in measures that reach the Governor for hlu approval or veto. But If a measure gets on the Initia tive ballot It stays there without change, or revision, or correction, or anything but full and final action by the electorate. Seven or eight hun dred measures go into a Legislature. Fancy 700 bills for the people to vote up or down through the initiative! A BASELESS JEFFERSON LEGEM). Legends have such a fascination for the average mind that they die hard, even after they have been proved to have no basis of fact. So it is with the legend that Jefferson rode horse back from the White House to the Capitol, tied his horse in front of the ouilding and took the oath as Presi dent. This legend has no more basts of fact than any of the other tradi tions of Jeffersonian simplicity. What ever simplicity there was about Jef ferson's inauguration was due to the conditions existing at the time, which were not propitious for gorgeous pub lic ceremonies. Jefferson did not ride from the White House to the Capitol, for the simple reason that he was not oc cupying the White House at the time, but was living at Conrad's boarding- house, which still stands on New Jer sey avenue, near the Capitol. He did not ride, but walked between Samuel Dexter, of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Treasury, and Benjamin Stoddert, of Maryland, Secretary of the Navy. He was escorted by a battalion of in fantry and a salute of honor was fired by a batttery at Alexandria. The horseback legend probably originated in the facts that Jefferson was .fond of riding and that the streets of Wasnington were so bad that it was more convenient for him, after he became President, to ride horseback than in a carriage, though he some times used- the latter. On his rides about the city he would frequently dismount at the Capitol, leave his horse In the shed used by Congress men for that purpose and enter the building to consult his friends. This custom probably accounts for the legend. The Government will have very lit tle to say about the character of the ceremony at the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson. Its only part In the affair Is to provide the man for the office and the official to administer the oath, to build a stand on the east front of the Capitol, to provide a few regiments of troops to march in the parade and to grant certain private citizens authority to use public prop erty and public places. The pomp and ceremony are all furnished by these private citizens a committee of Washington business men which raises a guaranty fund, arranges for the pa rade, ball and fireworks, builds grand stands and has general charge of the ceremonies. This committee takes charge of the event as an investment and acts inde pendently of, though in co-operation with, the Government. The event is a good investment for the Washington people, for It attracts great crowds to the city, who spend large sums on hotel accommodation, at restaurants and other places and for tickets to grandstands and balls. The size of the harvest reaped by the citizens varies with the degree of publio inter est in the inauguration. When a President succeeds himself this interest is at its lowest ebb. When the incoming and outgoing President are both of the same party, it is somewhat greater. When, as is now about to happen, one party displaces another after being out of office for sixteen years, public interest is at its height. Adherents of the victorious party flock to the capital to witness the event which marks their triumph. The certainty that there will be un wonted crowds and that the pageant will be one of unusual brilliancy at tracts others merely as sightseers. Washington capitalizes the inaugura tion by surrounding the simple cere mony of taking the oath with a gorge ous display befitting the coronation of a King. All statements to the con trary notwithstanding, hotel rates are doubled, the rent of lodgings in pri vate houses and apartment buildings Is advanced enormously and the price of meals at restaurants goes up. Were Wilson to make any effort to prevent Washington from reaping this harvest, he would render himself in tensely unpopular in the Capital at the very opening of his administration. The population of Washington in cludes men and women from every state in the Union and Is more or less familiar with the President's daily life and personality from having him in its midst. It, therefore, has opportu nities of molding public opinion about him throughout the country. Wilson could not prevent his inauguration from becoming a pageant if he would, and, for the reasons stated, he would not if he could. He would not be so foolish as to attempt to deprive Washington of so valuable an asset. CONSERVATION OF CHILD-LIFE. There are two kinds of race suicide. One is the kind against which Colonel Roosevelt inveighs. The other is the kind which allows babies to be brought into the world only to die. War is being made against this latter kind in New York City by means of pure milk stations with attendant physicians and nurses. Its good re sults are seen In the annual report of the Board of Health, which shows that last year the death rate for babies de creased 6 per cent, while for the en tire population the decrease was only 1 per cent. That this decrease is due to the agencies mentioned may safely be in ferred from the fact that most of it was In Manhattan, where preventive measures are most thorough, while in Brooklyn, where the work w extended beyond its original limits only last Summer, there was only a slight decrease, and in the Bronx, which had only three milk stations, there was none. The Inference is plain that the high death rate among infants is prevent able waste. To the community each child that is born is an investment, for it Is a prospective useful, produc ing citizen, and each death of a child is an economic loss. It is useless to check the one kind of race suicide by increasing the birth rate unless we at the same time check the other kind by decreasing the death rate. In fact, it would be better to bring into the world a smaller number of children and by giving them better care bring them all to maturity than to give birth to a larger number, half of whom would die in infancy. Proper care of children, which car ries with it care of mothers, is our first duty In conservation of human re sources, without which conservation of other resources is vain. THE PROBLEM OF THE UNFIT. Three eminent Indiana physicians have in course of preparation a re markable bill for submission to the State Legislature. In the opinion of Dr. Harvey Adams Moore, who speaks for his colleagues on the subject of the Indianapolis Medical Journal for last December, the bill if it is adopted will bring to pass "a steady reduction of the social diseases toward the smallest possible minimum." It is not expected, naturally, that this will be done over night. The plan of cam paign, we are told, "involves many years of hard, work and constant co operation with the public." The phrase "social diseases," as used in this ex traordinary bill, includes not only the maladies of vice, such as venereal troubles and alcoholism, but also pov erty, criminality and, as we under stand it, "general cussedness and im becility." The ambitious project of these physicians aspires to make the entire human family, as It exists in Indiana, healthy and, to a reasonable degree, happy. The bill seems to be intended as a supplement to the edu cational ideas of Dr. Maria Montessori which have been adopted in the In dianapolis public schools. Dr. Adams reports that Indianapolis is the first city in the United States to put the Montessori methods in prac tice. He feels that, difficult and strange as they are to our educational leaders, they are not likely to succeed without "the constant co-operation of the medical profession." And in any case the Montessori reforms "deal with the child after it is born" and do not touch upon the profound prob lems which affect its procreation. The medical profession, in Dr. Adams' portentous language, must not only Join with the teachers in "combating the evils that exist now, but must con sider the child before it is born, must determine when and by whom chil dren shall be" -brought into existence. The bill is yet in a tentative state. The committee of learned medical men who are preparing it invite criticisms from the world of social students and they have enlisted the services of expert counsel to forestall legal ob jections and difficulties. Should the Legislature pass the bill when it Is finally presented Indiana will enter upon an experiment whose signifi cance to human welfare is immeasur able. "The time-worn vice crusade, the religious revival, the ostrich-like stick ing of the public head into the .sand of Ignorance," will be replaced by sci entific work along the lines of exact knowledge. We gather from the outline of the bill given in the Indianapolis Medical Journal that it begins by making every licensed physician in the state "a health officer of the State of In diana." The entire state is divided into districts, to each of which a phy sician is assigned, who co-operates first with the county board of health and ultimately with the state board. The duties of the district health offi cer are numerous and Important. For one thing he must "examine each case of venereal disease" just as he would a case of small pox or diphtheria and if isolation is required he must see that the patient is shut up, quaran tined and put under the care of trained nurses. For this the state pays. . This provision is admirable. There is no sane reason why contagi ous venereal diseases should be al lowed to spread under the veil of se crecy and hypocritical connivance any more than cholera. In the next place, the health officer must inspect all dwelling-houses, public buildings and places where labor is performed once every three months to "examine the lighting, plumbing, . drainage and ventilation, the water supply and gen era cleanliness." No doubt the cry of tyrannous med dling will be raised against this provi sion, but if the citizen and his children are valuable to the state, why should not the state see to it that their health Is taken care of? When the British authorities began a campaign of cleanliness in the cholera districts of India the mobs set up a howl of tyr anny, but it was not very long before they made up their minds that the sway of the cholera bacillus was more terrible than that of the health offi cers. The acceptance of this part of the bill will be In direct proportion to the common sense of Indiana's citi zens, which, we understand, is rather extensive. So far so good. Up to this point the bill must win the encomiums of all who love their kind. But now we come to a part of it where obsti nate doubts intrude. It is the sections referring to the "sterilization of the unfit." The local health officers are required to report to the county board all cases of "mental and physical de ficiency" which endanger the health of offspring. This includes idiots, im beciles, epileptics, persons permanent ly of unsound mind, and those suffer ing from incurable diseases transmis sible to their children. Such cases are passed on to the State Board of Health, who submit them to examina tion "by two physicians in good stand ing and practice." If these examiners agree that "such person is incapable of procreating sound offspring," he may be shut up In a hospital and kept there indefinitely under trained nurses. Finally, if "two skilled sur geons of recognized ability" deem it unwise for him to have offspring and pronounce him unimprovable, he shall be sterilized. In our Judgment this is dan gerous. Not that we object to "sterilization of the unfit." In many cases it Is eminently proper, but it should not be done with out the most elaborate precautions against wrong. The concurrent opin ion of two physicians or twenty is not enough. There should be no secrecy about the proceedings, no chance for professional bigotry to come into play, no opportunity for malice or venality to wreak its terrible deeds. No person should ever be subjected to this opera tion without a trial in open court be fore a jury and even then he should have all the securities of any other jeopardized person, with an appeal to the higher courts and the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus. The medi cal profession deserves the gratitude of mankind for its Invaluable servlce.5, but we are not yet quite ready to place the destinies of the world in its soie keeping. The death of James R. Keene marks the passing of a type the sporting man in Wall street, the man who plays a stock to rise as he plays a horse to win. He was a great judge of horse flesh, as his many successes on the turf prove, but his favorite sport has almost passed away with the prohibi tion of racetrack gambling. He was a daring gambler in stocks, but prac ticed methods of manipulation which have now fallen into disrepute. Tak ing to New York from San Francisco a fortune made In the famed Comstock lode, he was one of the few Western millionaires who held their own and achieved any measure of success in Wall street. Usually such men are mercilessly trimmed. Keene, too, had suffered reverses of late and his for tune at his death had shrunk far be low the proportions it attained in the days when he "bucked" the kings of the stock market and often won. The policy of fusion and dicker Is still pursued by the Progressives. They have eight votes In the lower house of the Connecticut Legislature, which held the balance of power. Af ter lunch with Roosevelt the eight Bull Moosers announced that they would help in the election of a Demo cratic Speaker. As the Senate Is Dem ocratic by three to two, this deal would give the Democrats control of both houses. The policy of the Bull Moose appears to be to combine with the Democrats in every state where the Republicans are what they con sider reactionary. Chinese are called heathen, yet a cardinal virtue of the yellow man is to care for the aged parent, which many of a higher race neglect. Senator Milt Miller may have half the deck up his sleeve. As a warhorse, the sage of Lebanon cannot be tied at the post. Every community that helps pro mote a cannery enterprise aids in de veloping a local market for diversified Industry. A girl wishes to be a page in the State Senate. Her sex obviously in tends to leave no political job unex plored. A Washington judge sentenced one of his friends to the penitentiary. Duty often makes harsh demands. Professional wrestling is not to be allowed hereafter. What'll the sure thing men do for a living now? The "man who walks like a bear," so to speak, must be taking an Invisi ble grip on the Balkan trouble. A New York bank has earned 18,550 per cent. Nice place to have, 6ay, a $1000 working interest. When the suffrage army reaches Washington it might be well to pause and reckon the damage. Babylonians had a run of divorces In 2230 B. C. And some of their progeny are still at it. - As offset to weather disturbance comes the scramble for legislative office. Anything inside a rind and labeled "California" will sell In the East.' And to think that all those fine big plums may fall before March! Saying and doing mean the same to Sheriff Tom Word. Portland's fifteen-story skyline Is growing apace. I SCHOOL, INDUSTRIAL TRAIXISTG Needs That Will Senre Desirable Re sults Arc Discussed. PORTLAND, Jan. 10. (To the Edi tor.) The tendency In public educa tion at the present time is to add prac tical Instruction in industrial occupa tions and thereby, as it seems, meet the need of present changing conditions which demand more direct application and skill in the performance of certain kinds of work. This means that the theoretical side of education will be less and the danger that presents It self, should the practice be cairied very far, is that the persons instructed in this way are apt to become auto matic, unthinking machines with little or no ability to become more of a force in work. The goal of such training can be seen by viewing the Interests that are back of the movement. Industrial training is encouraged by some per sons who believe in a servile class, by others who see the need of skilled tradesmen to make our industries more productive and yet by others who be lieve that certain Individuals who have interest in industrial work and ability have a right to be given special train ing. Our conservative school system, which does not lend itself to a rapid change, is to- be commended because its function is to teach how to know rather than how to do. Some in dustrial training has come into our system in the trade school and the manual training departments of other schools. More is coming with the es tablishment of the new agricultural high school. These chancres are wel comed. They are of a character and kind that enliven interest in the art of doing at the same time that they en courage constructive thinking. Now that practical training is be coming more generally a part of the public school system Its place must be governed so as to secure desirable re sults. So far as the duty of the public school system is concerned it must be said that the work of the elementary school and the high school Is general education. Its work Is Intended to broaden the knowledge of pupils and to develop their mental powers. A num ber of different subjects should be given so as to allow the pupils to find their interests, and a sufficient amount of work should be given to prolong the pupils' interests long enough to make them reasonably well equipped. In order tc make the schools effi cient so that boys and girls trained therein can have an opportunity to benefit themselves by advancing to higher and better positions the courses offered in industrial training should be balanced In practice and theory. The practical side of education should not be over emphasized. The school shouJ4 helD the pupils to see their trade in all its relations and should qualify them to understand its theoretical groundwork. In addition to training in mechanical processes the pupil should be given an insight into his trade so that he can become familiar with all its Darts. its underlying sciences and understand himself in his relation to other trades and to the whole group of trades of which they are parts. In agriculture the pupils should be taught the laws that govern climatic conditions, soil fertility, the propagation of plant life, ihe develop ment of special types of products of the soil suited to particular environ ments, and cultivation in theory and practice. Such a training is broaden ing, will develop thinking men and wo men and the public schools will meet a new and pressing need. EDWIN ANDERS. OREGON AT SAN FRANCISCO FAIR Building Should Be Desiened at Home and Leave Laatlnar Memory. PORTLAND, Jan. 10. (To the Ed itor.) Much has been said, and more written, on the Panama-Pacific Expo sition. This is all educational as a whole, but when analyzed by units the study becomes more complex. First, what does it take to make a first-class exposition of our untold virgin wealth on the Pacific Coast? Let us consider seriously what important practically undeveloped states lie nearest the Pa cific. Named briefly, we say Oregon, Washington and California. Then, if wa are to have a Panama-Pacific Ex position, naturally the Pacific States are most interested in tne exposition. Why? Eastern people are aware of what the West Is capable of producing. No effort should be deemed too great, and a reasonable amount of money should be expended justly to represent our resources. Our state building should be a good, substantial structure not a building that would necessitate uselebS ex penditure, but one of artistic design. The design, as shown in the New Year number of The Oregonian, seemed to be rather heavy and unwieldly, and appeared not to be a suitable design for the setting obtained for the struc ture. - Our state building should be of a structure that will stand as a continual advertisement of Oregon and her re sources. New York, remote from the Pacific Coast, has seen fit to appropriate $750, 000 for its state buildings, while our sister state will appropriate $500,000. Our civic pride should be such that Oregon can boast of its state building, for where can our state be excelled in either quality or quantity of natural wealth. Personal favorites should play no part In the design and construction of this building, and a way should be de vised to eliminate all possibilities of an arrangement that would not be the best for Oregon and Oregonians. To do this, the best way possible would be to select the design in a manner that will give each and every man In the state a chance to show his Ideas. Competition has ever been the life of trltde and a great stimulant to the ef forts of those in different walks of life. This principle should be employed to a great extent in the designing of this building. This building, which Is to represent Oregon before the world, should be the best possible product of Oregon men, and should be a lasting memory to those who have viewed it. The people of the state are asked to pay for this structure, and they should have some voice in the manner of spending the money. M- LEONA NICHOLS. President Women's Auxiliary North Portland Commercial Club. Real, Human Devotion to Dor's. Indianapolis News. In the World's Work, Lieutenant George F. Waugh, who made a trip of 1000 miles across Alaska in mid Winter, confesses to a warm friend ship for dogs. "I like to think," he says, "that I finished my trip in 21 days with the same dogs with which I started. I bated to part with my dogs, but as our country is too hot for them I decided to give them away. When I boarded the boat at Valdez, where I left two of my dogs, my lead er. Psyriak, tried to get up the gang plank after me, but when they would not let him, tie stood there, until tne boat pulled out, whining, as much as to say, 'How can you desert me now?' "The affection one forms for one's dogs in this country is almost limit less. The day before I reached cnitna I met a trapper carrying five little puppies on his back. He had the mother dog with him in good condi tion. He had been .three days (two of them without any food) making 12 miles rather than sacrifice these dogs, and he had frozen his feet and hands so badly, as a result, that I am afraid he was bound to lose some of his fingers and toes." No. PORTLAND, Jan. 10. (To the Edi tor.) Is the 1911 5-cent piece worth more than its face value? MRS. W. J. MASTERSON. DEBTS AND HIGH COST OF LIVING Forefathers' ObHcailona Raise Present Prices With No Relict In Sight. GRASS VALLEY, Or.. Jan. 9. (To the Editor.) I notice The Oregonian often has communications regarding the high cost of living and there are often many so-called solutions published in the various magazines. I have looked in vain for the real reason of it to my way of thinking. The future generations more than 100 years in advance are mortgaged the world over. The stocks and bonds with which they are held in bondage amount to more than the stupendous sum of $500,000,000,000. The daily Increase of indebtedness amounts to over $1,000,000. We are today grumbling about paying the interest and principal of debts con tracted 50 years ago. The protest against high cost of living is but a protest against the payment of prin cipal and interest of bonds and stocks now falling due, contracted from 25 to 50 years ago Indirect It is true but a protest nevertheless. The interest charges every corporation or factory has to meet must be added to the price or the commodity It ofiers for sale to gether with a reserve to go in the sinking fund to meet the payment of tne stocks ana Donas at maturity. The whole fabric of civilization is a gigantic pyramid resting on the ability oi the future generations to pay prin cipal and interest of the monstrous sums we are daily saddling on them. They can carry Just so much. Beyond that, when they get their eyes open to the awful load we have asked them to handle, they will rebel and repudiate the whole thing which will be an over turning of the pyramid and a smashing of credit which will lead to universal distrust. And when men ceases to trust each other the dark ages will be again upon us, for really the only dif ference between a savage and a civi lized man is that the savage distrusts his neighbor and the civilized man trusts his. . Every dollar of interest we have to pay on obligations contracted by our roreratners is one dollar less we have to use for our own present needs and the obligations as time goes on are constantly growing greater and for which we derive no direct benefit in many cases. These Interest charges will grow greater each year until the breaking point is reached and It is no longer possible to meet the charges and civilization Is bankrupt. Study this question from anv stand point and it will be seen that all the parliaments, Congresses and relchstags in the world cannot remedy the high cost of living by superficial legislation. I have no remedy to offer for the in exorable fact of a constantly Increas ing interest charge is piling up which must be met as long as it can be done. The cost of living will continue to mount parallel with the Increase of Interest charge. The Interest of mort gages must be paid and humanity Is mortgaged to the limit. Stocks and bonds of whatever nature are but another name for mortgages. Village, school, county, state, National, rail road, steamship, land or mining stocks and bonds everything on the earth, in the earth and beneath the earth is mortgaged and soon a new series of stocks will undoubtedly be floated to stock the air with ships. The high cost of living has its roots In the golden soil of stocks and bonds and its growth will continue for years to come. CHARLES C. TOWNESS. Wonderfnl Steps In Surgery. PORTLAND, Jan. 9. (To the Editor. We read that the latest experiment performed by Dr. Alexis Carrel of the Rockefeller Institute, New York, con sisted of removing the internal organs of a cat and placing them in a solution such that would keep them working normally as in life. At first we are apt to regard this experiment merely as a very remark able piece of surgery, without attach ing any great importance to the act. After reflection, however, one may read ily conceive how substitutions of or gans from animals of the lower realm made upon persons suffering from in ternal troubles may in the future be considered as simple operations. Would we be too imaginative to think that the stomach of a healthy dog might be substituted for that of a hu man being? So rapid has been the progress of science in recent years that one must hesitate before questioning the possibility of the success of any new step in the medical world. W. VERNON. . Food for Thought. PORTLAND. Jan. '10. (To the Edi tor.) So many people read the letters in The Oregonian, and take such lively interest in the subjects and questions under discussion that I am led to ask you to publish two questions which have given the writer no end of food for thought and speculation. I have asked, I should say, about ten thousand people these questions and have yet to find one who answers in the affirma tive. They follow: Have you ever seen a deceased gray mule? Have you ever seen a one-legged Chi naman? ROBERT G. DUNCAN. A Distinction Among Friends, Harper's. Cora was fond of all-inclusive pray ers, and one night she offered the fol lowing discriminating petition: "Lord, please bless mother and father and all of us, and give us everything good; and please bless 'our friends, and give thpm what is good for them!" My Life in the Underworld by JACK ROSE The gambling partner of Lieutenant Becker presents the second in his series of eight remarkable revelations of New York crooks, in The Sunday Oregonian. A whole page is consumed in a description of the co-operation that exists between police and criminals. The American Girl in Opera- The how and why of her is gone into by Theodora Bean- in a delightful half -page study. Attractively illus trated. Flynn, New Chief of the Secret ServiceHe talks with an Ore gonian correspondent on the sleuthing business, recounting many stir ring experiences in running down bad men and gangs. Will Mr. Wilson's Door Stay Open? An article dealing with the freaks and cranks who haunt the White House seeking to take up the President's time. Adventures of a War Correspondent Gerald Brandon relates the fourth in his series of articles on campaigning with Madero in Mexico. The peace conference at Juarez and a tense battle are described. Wanted, Brains for a King Unless Alfonso can secure the services of a strong man to sustain the tottering throne, the Spanish monarchy may fall apart. An illustrated half page from an energetic Madrid correspondent. America, the Hope of the Drama Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree gives an interview regarding the future of the drama. Fainting Under the Ocean A full page in colors of the genius who has developed something new in painting and who is making his strange idea pay. New Color Comics Two full pages of them, and they are among the funniest people in funny land. You should get acquainted with Doc Yak, Sherlock Holmes, Jr., Old Opie Dilldock and the rest of them. Three Pages for Women Departments on housekeeping, fashions and health.- A new quarter-page embroidery design. Many other features. Order today from your newsdealer. The Man and the Bell By Dean Collins. Oh, Muse. I know that I should be sad And think that the world is wholly bad; For the doorbell rings its omen 111, And ginks come round to present their bill: Or the morning mail at my desk cornea through With a bill instead of a billet doux; And any old place that I may be The bill collector is after me. My life should be soured to cynical hate. But lastead of that I jubilate And laugh and roar till my sides are sore As I think of the sorrowful guy next door. Victim he of the people's voice; Popular Senatorial choice; Boomed to the Legislature because They thought he could tinker our great state's laws. A prosperous chap, and nevermore The Deputy Sheriff assails his door. A solid citizen; one who ranks Up ace high in many banks. But still, though his credit's high and fine. His Is a bitterer fate than mine; For, 'spite of it all, his footsteps still Are dogged by the fellow who has a bill. I never feel the bill chap's lash. Except in matters of ready cash; But he is followed from fair sunrise By bills of every sort and size. Dealing with railroads and navigation. Hatpins, pickles or vaccination. Sunday baseball and hotel sheets. Dog tax. autos or sugar beets; Though he may wail and his reason fail The man with the bill is on his trail. "Ha, ha!" I say, as I see his fate, I am elate and I jubilate. I've naught more serious to expect Than a man who comes with a bill tc collect. While he is stormed with a hundred; calls To father bills in the Senate halls. Though he knows full well, as he cons them o'er. That each is sure to make someone sore As sure as It pleases some other chap, "Ha, ha!" I roar, and my hands I clap, "Let the doorbell peal like the knell of doom. And bill collectors Invade my room. A happier lot is mine, I think. Than that of the sorrowful Senator gink. For all of the bills upon my shelf At least are bills that I made myself."1 Portland, January 10. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of Jan. 12, 1863. Cairo, Dec 29. Fort Hudson has been attacked and completely demolished by our gunboats. Sixty guns were cap tured. At latest accounts Admiral Far agut had reached a point about 20 miles below Vlcksburg. General Sherman's expedition from Memphis has probably arrived in that vicinity. Cairo, Jan. 4. General Rosecrans" army, numbering 100,000 men and 100 pieces of artillery, opened the battle on the rebels at Stone River on the morn ing of December 31. The battle haa continued three days and will be re newed In the morning. The rebels drove back our right, commanded by McCoole, and captured his ammunition train, but the lost ground was regained. They then rushed upon the center, but were repu'sed. They assailed the right and centev again, but were repulsed. Bentley's brigade crossed the river, but was driven back again. Negley's divis ion charged and captured a 'battery. General Rosecrans then ordered the ad vance of the whole line and at dark our whole line was sweeping forward, but darkness made - it impossible to press our advantage. We Anally suc ceeded in driving the rebels across Stone River and on the night of Janu ary 3 they began a retreat. A pursuit has been commenced. Cairo, Jan. 7. News from Vlcksburjr to the morning of January 1 says the rebels had concentrated all their forces from Granada and Jackson along the line of road to Vicksburg. amounting to 65.000 men. This overwhelming force attacked Sherman on December 29 and forced him to fall back to the hrst line. Yesterday morning, about 2 o'clock. some villain cut the cables which at tached the bark Samuel Merritt to Couch's wharf and she swung out In the stream. Immediately the steward detected that the ship was adrift la time to prevent any harm. Non-Resident Executors. PORTLAND, Jan. 9. (To the Edltor.v .Can t nnn-rnalrianr l)A annotated as .. -.- nt a voafrfont'st will. In Oregon. and act as such executor If he should qualify? A REGULAR READER. Kn unlARH he comes to the State of Oregon and resides until the estate has been distributed. Voting; on First Papers. MERRILL. Or.. Jan. 8. (To the Edi tor.) Can I vote in the State of Ore- gon on my first papers? M. Yes, If you have resided in the state, six months and have had first papers for one year.